Center for Higher Education StudiesWaseda University

Waseda University uses ICT (Information and Communication Technology) to make its lectures as broadly available as possible, both in Japan and overseas, and pursues a variety of initiatives in order to make Waseda’s key role in education as visible as possible. Here are some examples of the use of on-demand lesson content.

Click here for a summary of initiatives, Waseda Vision 150 – Core Strategy 3 “Educational Content Open to the Public in Many Languages.”

Waseda’s MOOC Initiative

Waseda University has been widely open to the outside world about Waseda’s education since its founding, as evidenced by the fact that its predecessor, Tokyo Senmon Gakko, has been publishing a correspondence lecture series（通信講義録） since 1886. Currently, as part of the activities to promote the “Educational Content Open to the Public in Many Languages” set forth in Waseda Vision 150, we continue to launch various courses on the Massive Open Online Courses, MOOCs, platform such as edX, one of the platforms for overseas students, and on JMOOC for domestic students. MOOCs are public courses that universities and companies distribute to the general public over the Internet. In MOOCs, participants of all ages study online using lecture videos and materials, submit assignments, and receive a certificate of completion upon completion of certain grades. MOOCs are attracting attention as a new educational channel that provides university- and graduate-level courses to a wide range of people in Japan and abroad, including those who previously had no access to higher education. In addition, as the introduction of online classes at educational institutions becomes more widespread following the global outbreak of new coronavirus infection, the value and importance of public access to lecture videos and digital certificates of completion at high-quality institutions of higher learning are being reevaluated.

Platforms for open learning in Waseda

edX (WasedaX)

edX is a global MOOCs platform jointly developed by MIT and Harvard University in 2012. Waseda University has been participating in edX since 2014, delivering lecture videos in our unique research fields and by leading researchers. All courses are delivered in English, and as of 2023, 25 courses from diverse fields such as law, Japanese literature, Japanese language education, business administration, and science and engineering have been made available to a cumulative total of over 340,000 registered learners all over the world.

Promotion Video about WasedaX (youtube)

JMOOC

JMOOC is a MOOCs platform mainly in Japan and Asia, and courses are delivered mainly in Japanese. Waseda University is a full member of JMOOC, which offers a wide variety of courses such as psychology, IT and machine learning, and English language learning.

Waseda OpenCourseWare (WOCW)

WOCW provides videos of regular course lectures and on-campus seminars at Waseda University on YouTube, allowing a wide range of people outside the university to learn about education at Waseda University.

How to release educational videos

The main steps in the production of MOOCs are as follows:

1. The lecturer and the Center for Higher Education Studies holds a meeting regarding course contents.
2. The lecturer prepares the course design, outline, slide materials, and manuscripts for explanation.
3. The lecturer and the Center for Higher Education Studies holds a meeting to discuss the visual presentation of the course.
4. The lecturer conducts the recording in the studio and location shooting.
5. Edit the lecture video by checking with the lecturer as needed.
6. The course is posted on the platform, and students will be recruited to start learning.
7. The lecturer provides feedback to the learners during the open period (automatic grading tests are also available).

As for WOCW, we are following the release procedure based on offers from faculty members who have produced their own online classes. If you wish to make your classes available to the public, please contact the Center for Higher Education Studies.

For general information on creating online classes, please refer to the website for faculty members on campus, Teach Anywhere, which introduces methods and good practices for class design.

In order to further promote the MOOCs project at Waseda University and disseminate Waseda University’s high-quality classes both domestically and internationally, we are looking for faculty members and organizations that wish to produce courses on campus. For more information, please contact the Center for Higher Education Studies.

Classroom videos and materials made available by Waseda University

• Waseda Open Learning
• Web Syllabus Search
• List of open lecture videos